1st Theatre Exam
Terms
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- Every piece of knowledge is...
- Social and constructive
- Where did theatre begin?
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-Storytelling in Athens, Greece
-493 BC- 300 BC
-Why? to Entertain - Which religion are stories steeped in?
- Pagan
- What were the main crops at Festival?
- Grapes, corn, olives
- What do 2 people create?
- Dialogue; potential conflicts and relationships
- Why were Greek Theatres successful and how many people did they hold?
- They were acoustically perfect because of shape. They held 20-30 thousand.
- Parados
- Entryways for actors
- Kothornoi
- High platform shoes that each of the 12/13 reps of the districts wore.
- What was the purpose of the Chorus?
- They commented on the play. Before plays, they read out debts of the citizens of the time and created gossip
- What is the essence of all drama?
- Conflict
- Introduction of the first actor/second actor?
-
-500 BC
-Thespis
-Stepped out from chorus and acted as individual
-Second actor= 471 BC - Huborus
- Ego in Greek
- Kerkides
- Seating on ground floor for wealthy. Used to intimidate actors.
- Tragos
- Goat skins given to winning playwright. Determined by the audience.
- Aristotle
-
-Wanted to know why he liked what he liked
-Poetics- 335 BC - collection of his writings
-Wrote "The Essential Elements of Drama" now known as "The Neo Aristotilian Elements of Drama"
-Motivated by the need to systemize plays - Elements of Neo Aristotilian drama?
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Character
Plot-exposition,climax,denouncement
Action
Diction
Spectacle
Music - Earliest extent comedy?
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The Grouch by Menander
312 BC - What does Psychology say about humor?
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Humor is discovery in fear, relaxation in stress
Laughter is humorous physical counterpoint - When did humor enter Festival of Dionysus?
- 487 BC
-
Three types of comedy are:
Incongruity
Dersion
Automatism -
Incongruity- two things don't go together
Dersion- "my life is worse than yours"
Automatism- What we expect - Structure of Greek comedy
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Prologue- sets up what will happen
Parabisis- unpacking of the main conflict through language
Komos- happy idea - Commedia dell Arte
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-Italy
-1500s
-classic themes relating to working class people
-traveling to appeal to the masses - Lazzi
- Pieces of comedy in 5-10 minutes for working class people. It is built around stock characters.
- Il Capitan
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-big brawny man with little common sense
-braggert
-always after Isabella - Il dottore
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-Isabella's father acting as her "pimp"
-Speaks nonsense, but it sounds smart
-He protects Isabella - Isabella
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-Young, Beautiful, blonde, dumb
-Dependent on others - Scapino
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-Clever and smart
-Sets up drama for others and manipulates them - Harlequino
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-Classic joker
-Comedic foil - 5 Elements of Ancient Greek Plays
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Prologue- start of scene
Parados- Brackground info for play
Episodes-actors step out from skene and build scenes
Stasimon- contains songs/dances by chorus as it comments on plays
Exodos- summation by chorus on theme/wisdom of play - Ode
- Used as a transition between scenes in Greek tragedy
- Chalmys
- Connects mask, robe, and collar together onto body
- Genre of Farce
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-Comedy
-France in 1600s
-Moliere
-High physical comedy with wit
-Sexual overtones
-Includes puns (play on words)
-Comedy revoles around a central secret
-Reveal of the secret is the climax - Double entndres
- two meanings...associated with Farce
- Theatron
- Seating Area
- Catharsis
- Two fold feeling of fear/pity
- Skene
- Building behind orchestra with dressing rooms and storage
- Dionysus
- Greek god of wine, fertility, and celebration
- Periaktoi
- Large facits that suggest a scene change
- Orchestra
- Circlular playing area; "dancing place"
- Agon
- a debate
- Komos
- Happy idea
- Aeschylus
-
-"Father of Tragedy"
-most theatrical
-fought in battles of Marathon and Sakamis - Sophocles
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-Well respected in Athens
-Known for complex characterization, effective lyrics and dialogue
-Wrote on fate - Euripides
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-Most often produced of the Greek playwrights
-Not afraid to speak his mind
-Took on gov't and society - Stichomythia
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-Chorus debating one on top of the other in a scripted manner
-"Rose language" - Dithyramb
- Anytime chorus sings to Greek god Dionysus
- Thespis
- 1st known actor to show individualism
- Three Unities
- rigid form of writing a play
- Theatre of Dionysus
- Largest of the Greek Theatres
- Aristotelian Scholasticism
- Synthesis of Aristotle's philosophy with doctrines of the RCC
- Old Comedy
-
Written before the end of the Peloponnesian War
people could write about anything
famous for caricatures of Greek leaders/attacks on society
-Aristophanes - New Comedy
- safe themes/ mundane subject matter
- Hellenistic period
- between Alexander's death and roman conquest of Greece
- Sanskrit theatre
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oldest form of theatre in India
combined supernatural with believable
always happy endings - Peking opera
-
synthesis of music, dance, acting
china - Noh
-
new form of theatre in japan
"talent" - Pageant Wagons
- Horse drawn method of staging
- Kabuki
- version of Noh for the masses
- Onnagata
- men who played female roles
- Perspective painting
- Converging lines and a vanishing point for depth
- Declamatory acting
- Actors deliver lines to the audience in rehetorical manner
- Autos Sacramentales
- Religious dramas preformed in Spain
- Corrales
- Crude platform stages
- Orchestra pit
-
10 foot deep hole right in front of stage
covered by thrusts - Proscenium stage
- shown by invisable forth wall
- Flats
- covered in canvas and painted to suggest scenes
- skrim
- white or offwhite pantyhose type material that when backlighted, makes a shadow
- Black flies
- give depth perception to the stage
- fly space
- top of theatre. used to change scenery fast
- cat walk
- used to control lights in fly space area
- green room
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place for actors to hang out before going onstage; holding place
called green room because when the Queen attended played, emerald drapes would hang, and when she left, drapes would be put in special holding room til next time - loggia
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old lobby or social place; place to eat and drink
outer clothes are kept in the lobby